Philip Andre Rourke, Jr. (/rʊərk/; born September 16, 1952),[2] known as Mickey Rourke, is an American actor, screenwriter, and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.

Career[edit]

Amateur boxing[edit]

During his teenage years, Rourke focused his attention mainly on sports. He took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami.[citation needed] It was there that he learned boxing skills and decided on an amateur career.

At age 12, Rourke won his first boxing match as a 112-pound flyweight,[13] fighting some of his early matches under the name Phil Rourke. He continued his boxing training at the famed 5th Street Gym, in Miami Beach, Florida. In 1969 Rourke, then weighing 140 pounds (63.5 kg),[citation needed], sparred with former World Welterweight Champion Luis Rodríguez. Rodriguez was the number one–rated middleweight boxer in the world and was training for his match with world champion Nino Benvenuti. Rourke claims to have received a concussion from his sparring match with Rodriguez.[14]

At the 1971 FloridaGolden Gloves, Rourke suffered another concussion in a boxing match. After being told by doctors to take a year off and rest, Rourke temporarily retired from the ring.

From 1964 to 1973, Rourke compiled an amateur boxing record of 27 wins (17 by knockout) and 3 defeats, which included first-round knockout wins over Sherman Bergman, John Carver, and Ronald Robinson,[13] and decision victories over Ron Carter, Charles Gathers, Joe Riles, and Javier Villanueva.[13]

Early acting roles[edit]

In 1971, as a senior at Miami Beach Senior High School, Rourke had a small acting role in the Jay W. Jensen–directed school play The Serpent.[15] However, Rourke's interests were geared to boxing, and he never appeared in any other school productions. Soon after he temporarily gave up boxing, a friend at the University of Miami told Rourke about a play he was directing, Deathwatch, and how the man playing the role of Green Eyes had quit. Rourke got the part and immediately became enamored with acting. Borrowing $400 from his sister, he went to New York (to elude Florida police who wanted to arrest him for burglary) and took private lessons with Actors Studio teacher Sandra Seacat.

Seacat motivated Rourke to find his father, from whom he had been separated for more than 20 years. During his appearance on Inside the Actors Studio, after the release of The Wrestler, host James Lipton disclosed that Rourke had been selected to the Actors Studio in his first audition, which Elia Kazan is reported to have said was the "best audition in 30 years."

In 1987 Rourke appeared in Angel Heart. The film was nominated for several awards. It was seen as controversial by some owing to a sex scene involving Cosby Show cast member Lisa Bonet, who won an award for her part in the film.[18] Although some of Rourke's work was viewed as controversial in the U.S., he was well received by European, and especially French, audiences, who loved the "rumpled, slightly dirty, sordid ... rebel persona"[19] that he projected in Year of the Dragon, 9½ Weeks, Angel Heart, and Desperate Hours. Director Adrian Lyne said that had Mickey died after the release of Angel Heart, he would have become a bigger phenomenon than James Dean.[14]

Professional boxing career[edit]

In 1991 Rourke decided that he "had to go back to boxing" because he felt that he "was self-destructing ... [and] had no respect for [himself as] an actor."[3] Rourke was undefeated in eight fights, with six wins (four by knockout) and two draws. He fought internationally in countries including Spain, Japan, and Germany.[24] During his boxing career, Rourke suffered a number of injuries, including a broken nose, toe, and ribs, a split tongue, and a compressed cheekbone.[25] He also suffered from short term memory loss.[26]

His trainer during most of his boxing career was Hells Angels member, actor, and celebrity bodyguard Chuck Zito.[27]Freddie Roach also trained Rourke for seven fights.[28] Rourke's entrance song into the ring was often Guns 'N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" (referenced in his film The Wrestler, in which Rourke's character enters his final match of the film to the song playing over the loudspeakers).[29] Boxing promoters said that Rourke was too old to succeed against top-level fighters. Indeed, Rourke himself admits that entering the ring was a sort of personal test: "[I] just wanted to give it a shot, test myself that way physically, while I still had time."[30] Rourke's boxing career resulted in a notable physical change in the 1990s, as his face needed reconstructive surgery to mend his injuries. His face was later called "appallingly disfigured."[31] In 2009, the actor told The Daily Mail that he had gone to "the wrong guy" for his surgery, and that his plastic surgeon had left his features "a mess".[25]

While Rourke was also selected for a significant role in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, his part ended up on the editing room floor. Rourke also played a small part in the film Thursday, in which he plays a crooked cop. He also had a lead role in 1997's Double Team, which co-starred martial arts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was Rourke's first over-the-top action film role, in which he played the lead villain. During that same year, he filmed Another 9½ Weeks, a sequel to 9½ Weeks, which received only limited distribution. He ended the 1990s with the direct-to-video films Out in Fifty, Shades and television film Shergar, about the kidnapping of Epsom Derby-winning thoroughbred racehorse Shergar. Rourke has expressed his bitterness over that period of his career, stating that he came to consider himself a "has-been" and lived for a time in "a state of shame."[31]

In addition, in 2004, Rourke provided the voice for "Jericho" in the third installment of the Driver video game series. Rourke also recently appeared in a 40-page story by photographer Bryan Adams for Berlin's Zoo Magazine. In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled "Mickey Rourke Rising"[34] Christopher Heard stated that actors/musicians Tupac Shakur, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, and Brad Pitt have "animated praise for Rourke and his work." During a roundtable session of Oscar-nominated actors held by Newsweek, Brad Pitt cited Rourke as one of his early acting heroes along with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman.[35]

Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made films that he now sees as a creative "sellout" (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man), Rourke has stated that "all that I have been through ...[has] made me a better, more interesting actor." Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "my best work is still ahead of me."[36]

Rourke had a role in the film version of The Informers, playing Peter, an amoral former studio security guard who plots to kidnap a small child. In 2008 Rourke played the lead in The Wrestler, winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, about washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Regarding first reading the screenplay, he stated that he originally "didn't care for it".

"I didn't really care for the script, but I wanted to work with Darren and I kind of thought that whoever wrote the script hadn't spent as much time as I had around these kind of people and he wouldn't have spoken the way the dude was speaking. And, so Darren let me rewrite all my part and he put the periods in and crossed the T's. So once we made that change I was okay with it."[37]

He also spoke on personal concern and hesitance of being in a film about wrestling, for he perceived it as being "pre-arranged and pre-choreographed." However, as he trained for the film, he developed an appreciation and respect for what real-life pro wrestlers do to prepare for the ring:

I kept getting hurt. I think I had three MRIs in two months because I wasn't landing right. These guys take several years to learn how to land and I think after I started getting hurt doing it, I started to realize these guys are really suffering and I kind of gained a respect for their sport.[38]

He trained under former WWE wrestler Afa the Wild Samoan for the part, and has received a British Academy (BAFTA) award, a Golden Globe award, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Rourke was pessimistic about his chances to win the Oscar, as he had burned many bridges in Hollywood as a result of his past behavior.[25] Rourke lost the Oscar to Sean Penn, while Penn did acknowledge Rourke in his acceptance speech.

Rourke has written or co-written six scripts: Homeboy, The Last Ride, Bullet, Killer Moon, Penance and the latest, Pain. Of these, the first three were produced as films between 1988 and 1996.

In 2010 Rourke played the role of the main villain Whiplash in the film Iron Man 2. In an interview with Rip It Up magazine he revealed that he prepared for the role by visiting Russian jail inmates.[39] He also had a minor role as Tool in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables. Though he had little screen time, his performance was met with rave reviews and cited as one of the film's highlights. He was unavailable, however, to reprise the role in The Expendables 2, though he was reportedly in talks to return for a possible third film. In 2013 it was confirmed that Rourke would not appear in Expendables 3. The producer of the film had originally said Rourke was welcome back to the franchise if he "didn't act too crazy," but his behavior must not have changed as he was nowhere to be seen on the cast and crew production list.[40]

Just before the end of the year, he confirmed on a British TV talk show that he would play Gareth Thomas in an upcoming film about the Welsh rugby star who came out as gay the previous year.[41] As of February 2011, he had begun research on the film, but noted, "We're not going to make this movie until we've done all the proper research. We need to do our homework and I need to train for from nine to eleven months."[42] In 2011 Rourke was cast in the film Java Heat as an American citizen shadowing terrorist groups in Java, Indonesia. The film was released in 2013.[43]

Personal life[edit]

Rourke has dated several celebrities, including Terry Farrell and Sasha Volkova. He has been married twice. In 1981 he married Debra Feuer, whom he met on the set of Hardcase (1981) and who co-starred with him in Homeboy (1988) as his love interest. The marriage ended in 1989, with Rourke subsequently commenting that making the film 9½ Weeks "was not particularly considerate to my wife's needs."[44] The two have remained good friends, according to an interview Feuer gave in 2009.[45]

Wild Orchid co-star Carré Otis was briefly a cause célèbre following the release of the film owing to rumors that she and then-lover Rourke filmed an unsimulated sex scene. Otis married Rourke on June 26, 1992. In 1994 Rourke was arrested for spousal abuse. The charges were later dropped. The couple reconciled and also starred together in Exit in Red, but their marriage ended in December 1998. Otis and writer Hugo Schwyzer co-authored Beauty, Disrupted: A Memoir, an autobiography that detailed Otis' marriage to Rourke that was published in October 2011 by HarperCollins.[46] In November 2007, Rourke was arrested again, this time on DUI charges in Miami Beach.[47]

In numerous TV and print interviews, he attributes his comeback after 14 years to his agent David A. Unger,[48][49] weekly meetings with a psychiatrist, "Steve", and a Catholic priest he identified as "Father Pete".[citation needed] Rourke has been described as a "real good catholic by friend Tom Sizemore.[50]

Since 2009 Rourke has been dating the Russian model Anastassija Makarenko. In mid-2011, he bought an apartment in Wiesbaden, Germany, which is close to his girlfriend's parents' place of residence.[51] Rourke is a motorcycle enthusiast and uses motorcycles in some of his films.[citation needed]

Political views[edit]

In May 1989, Rourke revealed that he had donated most of his £1.5 million earnings from the film Francesco to support Joe Doherty in his campaign for political asylum in the United States. Doherty, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, was wanted by British authorities for his part in an ambush using an M-60 machine gun which killed a member of Britain's elite Special Air Service in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Doherty was later arrested and charged for his part in the attack but escaped with seven other prisoners after holding a prison officer hostage and engaging in a shoot-out with members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.[52][53]

In June 2006, Rourke publicly gave his support to U.S. President George W. Bush and the Iraq War.[54] In January 2009, Rourke expressed admiration for Bush in an interview with GQ magazine. He also expressed his astonishment that Islamic fundamentalists were allowed to continue their activities in the UK after the 7 July 2005 London bombings.[55]

In August, 2014, Rourke came under scrutiny for purchasing and wearing a t-shirt bearing the likeness of Vladimir Putin at a time when most of the western world was criticizing and sanctioning Russia for its repeated violations of Ukrainian sovereignty.[56] When questioned by the press, Rourke explained:

“If I didn’t like him, I wouldn’t buy the t-shirt, believe me. I met him a couple of times and he was a real gentleman. A very cool, regular guy. Looked me right in the eye. Good guy.”

In an appearance on the August 12, 2014 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Rourke further elucidated that he had purchased the shirt because the proceeds were going to benefit an ill Ukrainian boy in need of an operation.[58]

Dogs[edit]

In addition to his faith, Rourke has publicly attributed his comeback to his dogs. He is well known as a pet lover, particularly fond of small-breed dogs. A spay/neuter advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside of a pet shop in 2007[59] and has done a public service announcement for PETA.[60]

His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife.[59] Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as "chihuahuas," some are not purebred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life,"[59] was a chihuahua-terrier mix.[61][62] So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film Stormbreaker.[62]

Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me."[63] The day of the 2009 Golden Globes show, he told Barbara Walters that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about 14 years ago or so ... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:

Yeah, I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to kill myself. I just wanted to push a button and disappear.... I think I hadn't left the house for four or five months, and I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the closet for some reason, and I was in a bad place, and I just remember I was thinking, 'Oh, man, if I do this,' [and] then I looked at my dog, Beau Jack, and he made a sound, like a little almost human sound. I don't have kids, the dogs became everything to me. The dog was looking at me going, 'Who's going to take care of me?'

Despite being identified as "Lowjack" in the transcription above, the dog in the anecdote was apparently Beau Jack, who sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate.[65] Beau Jack died in 2002, though Rourke gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.[62][66] Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, Chocolate at the Four Seasons, about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmerman.[67] Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006.[67] In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film Once Upon a Time in Mexico.[60] He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005.[66] At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca.[62] About a month later, on February 18, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.[68]

Previous collaborations[edit]

Mickey Rourke and I were in Heaven's Gate together; he had this tiny part and I was playing whatsisname. We were sitting up there in the mountains talking about...dinosaurs. And I told him about this thing I had read in some science magazine, that there's a theory that dinosaurs really never disappeared at all. That in fact all they did was get smaller and smaller, their scales turned into feathers and they flew away-and that in fact dinosaurs are still with us, they're just birds. And Mickey said, 'That's interesting,' and he started telling me about this movie that he was going to do someday about a boxer and it was called Homeboy. You know, I remember also he told me at the time, 'There's this guy, the fighters manager, and you're gonna play this part.' I said, 'Okay Mickey, let's go.' So almost ten years went by and there we were making it. And I said to him, 'Why don't I tell that story about the birds and dinosaurs?' He said. 'Right.' And there is that scene at the beach with all the seagulls, talking about dinosaurs. It's completely disconnected from anything going on in the movie, but I think it's one of the things in the movie...It's real. Here are these two guys who are really kind of victims, talking about the origin and destiny of dinosaurs.[69]

Other works[edit]

Mickey Rourke made his stage debut in a revival of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge. Rourke also lent his voice to the video games Driv3r (2004) as Jericho and True Crime: New York City (2005) as Terrence "Terry" Higgins, which was the his fifth and last work with actor Christopher Walken. He also appeared in a Japanese TV commercial for Suntory Reserve (early '90s) and a commercial for Daihatsu and Lark cigarettes. More recently, in 2009, Rourke voiced the character of Dick Marcinko for the biographical video game Rogue Warrior, which was released on December 1, 2009.[70] Ironically, Rourke's portrayal of Marcinko was a source of humorous praise from a few critics (although many others criticized Rourke's role to the same degree that they did every other aspect of the game). In 2010, he appeared in a Dutch TV Commercial for Bavaria Beer.[71]

^Lyman, Rick (2003-04-13). "FILM; Mickey Rourke Is Sorry. Very, Very, Very Sorry". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-22. "For the first three years, no one wanted to hire him, no one wanted to meet with him. He was living on what he could raise by selling off the last of his movie-star possessions. And then, a couple of years ago, he got a call out of the blue from David Unger, a young and ambitious agent at I.C.M. 'He saved me,' Mr. Rourke says."